Tickle Tap Spotlight: Sound Shaker, Count Caddy and Sort Slider
Hurrah! The first three apps in our Tickle Tap App series are now available for download on the iTunes App Store. Sound Shaker is a sound-making designed for preschoolers, but so far it’s a hit among children of all ages. (You know something is entertaining when it brings a smile to the faces of serious-minded journalists, jaded industry-types and toddlers alike.) The barnyard sounds are my personal favourites—one of the funniest moments in development was when the programmer said he thought the pig sound was “very Orwellian.”
Sort Slider has a definite mesmerizing quality to it. I’m sure it’s a fun challenge for preschoolers to figure out which shapes match then successfully make matches by tilting the device or dragging the shapes with their fingers. It’s undoubtedly a treat for kids to see Harvey pop up and watch him jump and play onscreen. But for me, Sort Slider is a bit of a Zen machine. It was wonderfully calming to test this app. I would have happily kept on testing it, but then the team went and completed it.
Count Caddy is a unique little counting game. Counting balls of yarn, feathers and dog bones along with our Tickle Tap animal friends is about a million times more creative and inspiring than counting boring old straws and popsicle sticks like we did waaay back in my preschool days. During our voiceover recording session, our vocal actress admitted she really liked just saying the phrase “dog bones.” Go ahead—try to say “let’s count the dog bones” without cracking a smile. I double dog dare you.